Flexible tire for vehicle-wheels.



No. 883,398. PATENTED MAR. a1, 1908.

o. c. eonm.

FLEXIBLE TIRE FOR VEHICLE WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 2. 1906.

yd r I I I ad -r7142 UNITED PATENT OFFICE.

CLEMENT OLODOMIR GOUIN, OF PARIS FRANCE.

FLEXIBLE TIRE FOR VEHICLE-WHEELS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLEMENT CLODOMIR GOUIN, citizen of the FrenchRepublic, residing at Paris, in the Department of the Seine, France,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flexible Tires forV ehicle-Wheels of which the following is a specification.

Numerous attempts have already been made to obtain a flexible tire, forvehicle wheels, which would have all desirable qualities, but none ofthese attempts have been crowned with success. Neither tires of solidrubber nor pneumatic tires give satisfaction; the former are easily cutand are subject to slipping, the latter present, in addition to thesedisadvantages, that of being liable to bursting. Attempts have been madeto remedy these disadvantages by associating leather with the tires,ofwhich more will be said later, by incorporating the leather in thebody of the tire, or in using it as a protector; success has beenattained in' increasing the durability of the tire, but at the sametime, flexibility of the tire has been diminished. This diminution offlexibility is due to the fact that in the improved tires mentioned theleather is usually disposed in such a manner that it comes flat on theground, which is precisely a situation in which the elasticity of theleather is practically ml. The leather possesses on the contrary anappreciable elasticity when it is disposed edgewise, and in theapplication of this property lies the spirit of the invention. Thisconsists, in principle, of furnishing the rim of vehicle wheels with aseries of small pieces of leather placed edgewise and side by side;thanks to which a tire presenting great flexibility and not possessingany of the faults mentioned above isv obtained, a tire particularlyadapted for employment on wheels of heavy weight.

The drawing hereto annexed shows, by way of example, a method of puttinginto practice the present invention.

Figure 1 of the drawing represents the tire partly in elevation andpartly in section, and mounted on the wheel. Fig. 2 represents inperspective one of its ends.

The tires comprise a series of small pieces a cut out of leather in sucha manner as to have on the flat the form indicated in Fig. 2, and,edgewise, the form seen in Fig. 1, that is to say a form somewhattapered from the top to the bottom. The said pieces carry also, besidesSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 2, 1906.

Patented March 31, 1908.

Serial No. 337,074.

their body part a, lugs b and a series of holes which give passage tobands of any convenient form a. The tire is advantageously put togetherby uniting the different ieces one to another after having threadec themon the bands, and in finally fastening the whole by means of two endmetallic plates d, of a similar form to the pieces a, but preferablysmaller, and with which the ends of the bands are engaged in any manner.The number of pieces of leather employed is, moreover, chosen so that,the tire once made, the circle which it forms on the rim of the wheelmay be incomplete, the space left free being filled up by a sort ofplug, formed of a certain number of pieces of leather 6 resembling thosein the tire, but without the lugs b, by terminal plates f, and by ananchor g, of which the ends catch in ears hoarried on the plates cl, andthe stock. of which, screwed at its extremity, goes through the rim andreceives a nut i. This plug is, in the example shown, formed by two ofthe said pieces of leather 6, hollowed or provided with a verticallongitudinal channel, common to each of them through which passes thestock of the anchor and also, as well as the plates f which limit theplug, provided with transverse holes for the passage of the branches ofthe anchor, which thus keeps the pieces of the plug together.

The mounting of the tire on the rim is easily to be understood. One endof the tire is at first introduced into the rim, being bent slightly orwith the component parts obliquely disposed in the rim, and the end ofthe tire is then pushed forward, being still held obliquely so as todiminish the width of the part which it is desired to get into the rim,until the tire is all mounted on the rim. This done, the tire isarranged so that the division in the circle formed by the tire is to befound on the right of the hole reserved for the passage of the stock ofthe anchor ,the plug is introduced into this division, and then forceddown in such a manner that the stock of the anchor 9 comes out of therim and the nut "L is then put on the screwed part and fastened. Thehooks of the anchor then grip the ears h and keep the whole in place.Thus mounted, the tire will be already securely held; it is howeverbetter to fix it still more solidly to the rim. To this effect it isfurnished at various places with bolts having their heads formed in theshape of a gendarmes hat j, which. are mounted in the tire and itsresistance to outslde influences,

body of the tire in a similar manner to that described for the anchor g,and of which the shank parts which come through the rim are fitted withnuts 70. Y v

To facilitate the putting in place of the tire on the rim, a narrowopening may be formed at a convenient point on the latter to enable thetire to slide into place without having to incline it as has beenmentioned. Further, to augment the non-slipping qualities of the it canbe passed, when finished, in Whole or in part, through a bath of tarliquid; to protect the parts which would be affected by friction, brokenflint pressed into the leather is used; or small nails may be placed inthe leather.

It will be understood that the method of carrying out the inventiondescribed and shown is only to be considered as an example. It can becarried out in a very different manner. There is no need that the rimshould possess incurved edges, nor the tires lugs. One would only haveto employ in each case, the method of fixing which was found the best.

Having now particularly described my in- Vention, I declare that what Iclaim is:

1; A vehicle wheel tire consisting essen tially of pieces of leatherdisposed edgewise and secured together, separate end plates secured tothe respective ends of said tire and separated by a space, a securingplug filling sa1d space, and a device mechanically connecting said plugto said end plates and also adapted to secure the plug to the wheel rim.

2. A vehicle wheel tire composed of leather disposed edgewise, endplates of metal, securing bands passing through said end plates and peces, ears on said plates, and an anchor engaging said ears and securedto the rim of the Wheel. v

3. A vehicle Wheel tire composed of pieces of leather disposed edgewise,end plates of metal, securing bands passing through said pleces andplates, ears on said plates, an anchor having hooks engaging with saidears, and a plug composed of pieces engaged by said anchor and fillingthe space between the adjacent end plates of the tire. In testimonywhereof I affix my signature 1n presence of two witnesses.

CLEMENT CLODOMIR GOUIN.

Witnesses:

HENRY DANFER, LUoIEN OREsPrN.

